diagnosing the dysfunction in washington and offering some solutions. you said one solution is to hold congress at hearings, marking up bills going on legislation. most americans would agree with that but be surprised to hear, i mean, that's their job. i think most of us, you know, would assume, isn't that their job description? >> well, they've slowly slipped away from that over the last four years, i guess, particularly the last two years. the senate hasn't passed a budget resolution for several years now. they don't do appropriations bills before the end of the fiscal year, not even before the end of the calendar year. they haven't had a traditional conference between the house and senate in at least a year. >> i mean, i don't want to sound hysterical but that sounds crazy to me. >> it does to me, too. frankly, it's one of the simple things they could do that would be a solution to the gridlock and the partisanship we have now. i think if they would go back to the old way of getting things done, carefully, systematically, it would really help them. >